Date: 11/9/26 2:51 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (09 Nov 2026) 249 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 09, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Bella Maiwurm
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood,
Johannes Postma, Rebekah Graham
Visitors:
We welcome visitors to our site at the Lake Erie Metropark Boat Launch. We
are always willing to discuss the events of the day. Let us share our
enthusiasm with you. There will be busy days, that may require our full
attention, but those are not that frequent, and they provide great thrills
for all. We can predict good days to some degree, but the exact hour is up
to the birds, so be prepared to put in some time for the best results. Pack
a lunch😊
Weather:
A less virulent wind than yesterday, from where else but the west, allowed
a few more birds through the turnstiles today. We are located at the top of
a high and missed the northerly winds that usually follow a low, like the
one that blew through yesterday. The wind speed was in the five to ten mph
range today, curiously, the wind turbines and the local observers disagreed
with the weather station as the local wind went southerly for the last
couple of hours. The temperature was a comfortable fifty-six degrees,
helped by sunshine and the relatively low wind speed. The barometer was at
first rising, then falling slowly, hanging just above thirty inches of
mercury. The clouds put on a show today with a general movement from west
to east, alternating between a blue dome and various levels of cloud cover.
Most of the cover came from cirrus clouds and contrails that lingered in
the frigid air aloft long enough to be shaped by Jack Frost�s brush using
chaos theory as a guide, striking visuals ensued.
Raptor Observations:
Turkey vultures are still a strong enough presence to tilt the scales in
their favor despite their waning numbers. One hundred and forty-two did the
trick today. This should be the red-tails month and they are moving, even
on a less than bountiful wind. Seventy-three specimens of variable plumages
passed by today, the low winds causing them to fly high to find more
favorable conditions. Their usual traveling companions, the red-shouldered
hawk, took the third step of the podium with thirteen members. Bald eagles
were next in line with eight passing through today. They barely beat out
the sharpies with seven �flappers�. We finally had a harrier today, after
what seems like a long dry spell, one silver ghost flew over. We also
counted one Cooper�s hawk and one peregrine falcon. Our �four o�clock�
golden eagle arrived about a half hour early today trying to sneak by while
we were distracted by a collection of subadult bald eagles.
Non-raptor Observations:
A quiet day on the �others�� front. Horned larks were seen flying overhead.
Although some individual cormorants were seen, the large congregation was
at another retreat. Gulls were up in very large numbers, kettling at times.
Bonaparte�s gulls made an early morning visit to the slip. A brown creeper
kept us entertained in the nearby maple tree. A Carolina wren was heard
singing along with a red-bellied woodpecker making his usual noises. Four
female golden-eyes flew by, a relatively rare duck for us. Fourteen hundred
and ninety-nine crows flew by today.
Predictions:
Tomorrow may be summers last hurrah in terms of temperature, sixty-three is
forecast. The winds will be southwest overnight and west during the watch.
That seems to be a recurrent theme the last week or so. The barometer will
slowly decline as it looks like rain in a couple of days. Wind speed should
be about the ten-mph level. The skies are predicted to be partly cloudy.
Probably, we will see a repeat of today�s count tomorrow given the fair to
middling forecast.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (<ajyes72...>)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
--
Birders is a service of the Great Lakes Commission. Visit us at www.glc.org
Messages and content distributed on Birders are the sole responsibility of the subscriber providing such content and
do not reflect the views, policy or position of the Great Lakes
Commission.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Birders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to birders+<unsubscribe...>
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/great-lakes.net/d/msgid/birders/<010101a1c28207af-9e7d7178-d7df-4829-af92-691d7367ef32-000000...>
